"The spider-like robot, called Lemur, was developed by engineers at Stanford University and JPL as a prototype for a fully autonomous rock climber. It can already follow a human climber up an irregular surface without any guidance from a controller. And it has a spookily human gait.

While other climbing robots are designed to scale the sides of flat structures using suction cups or magnets for grip, tackling uneven geological surfaces is a far more difficult task. With a central body and four triple-jointed limbs, Lemur's gait resembles that of a human rock climber as it manoeuvres up an indoor climbing wall at Stanford."